Naperville Homeowners Petition For Teardown Limits

Dozens of Naperville homeowners packed into City Hall Tuesday night urging city leaders to take immediate action to prevent incompatible redevelopment from encroaching on the city's neighborhoods.

Residents for Responsible Redevelopment, or R3, presented a petition with 680 signatures and dominated the 90-minute discussion on teardowns, insisting that guidelines are necessary to prevent newly rebuilt homes from sprouting up and dwarfing their smaller, modest neighbors.

Though the residents said the new homes often are more attractive than their predecessors, the larger structures do not fit the character of established neighborhoods.

Homeowners pointed out a handful of new homes that they said tower above the surrounding ranch-style and smaller two-story residences, casting shadows, obstructing views and invading privacy.

"Every time you are outside you feel like someone is always looking over your shoulder," said Paul Hinterlong, a resident of the East Highlands neighborhood, an area near the downtown that has seen several teardowns in recent months.

Council members heard the comments and agreed to discuss what guidelines are needed at an Aug. 29 workshop. They agreed issues such as structure size, storm-water management, tree preservation and lot coverage need to be addressed.

Developers have balked at possible controls, claiming they would hinder redevelopment and successfully shot down in May a series of proposed guidelines submitted by a city advisory committee. The council later agreed to reconsider the teardown issue.

In prior discussions, city officials determined that any future teardown regulations should be citywide, and not limited to an "overlay district" near the downtown core as the initial findings from a city advisory group suggested.

City leaders also had opposed a proposed expedited appeals process that took the council out of the loop and gave the Zoning Board of Appeals and surrounding homeowners final say over proposals that fit with the character of the neighborhood but did not comply with teardown regulations.

Those measures will stand with any new guidelines, city officials said.

Council members agreed with the residents that city codes and zoning ordinances should be updated to better reflect development in the city today. Existing zoning regulations were established in 1980.

"We need to have a code that reflects the current reality, not that of the early 1980s," said Councilman Gary von Behren.

But residents concerned about ongoing teardowns in the East Highlands, urged the council to enact more immediate temporary measures to protect their neighborhood while they continue to hash out the code changes.

"The longer you take, the worse it becomes," said resident Peter Knusel. "We're not saying we are against these houses being torn down. All we are asking is that the house that takes its place fits in with the neighborhood."

But council members said it might not be that easy, and it would take numerous meetings before any teardown guidelines are ready to be implemented in the city.

"The passion displayed in your neighborhood is very evident," Mayor George Pradel told the group of residents Tuesday. "But I have many questions of how to regulate by law or ordinance the character of a neighborhood."